Soft matter – materials such as foam, prisons and liquid crystals – in everyday life, from smartphone display to domestic products, from our food to our food. These materials are present between traditional solids and liquids, responding dramatically to forces such as gravity and temperature.
In space, scientists can study the true behavior of soft substances without intervention of gravity, which can lead to successes in manufacturing, medicine and content science. This research not only pushes space research technology, but also improves our lives on Earth.
Understanding soft substances
The soft matter surrounds an interesting family of material: colidal system, liquid crystal, foam, gel, emulsions and granular materials. When they make them special when the temperature changes or small forces like gravity are exposed, they have their unique potential. Think of a stupid poti that flows like a liquid but bounces like a solid: this is a soft matter in the process.
Unlike traditional materials, such as steel or glass, soft substances can transfer between three separate stages without interruption: liquid solid, liquid liquid and liquid gas. In the microority environment of the place, scientists can observe these transitions without a masking but important behavior that masks the earth’s gravity.
Studying the behavior of these flexible material novels in space is revolutionizing our understanding of basic physics and opening new doors in material science and biotechnology.
From place to your daily life
The shaving cream is a common and important material that we use on the ground, from Lathar to the foam of the fire. But studying the behavior and stability of the foam is difficult to do because of the gravity of the earth. This is where NASA comes.
By studying these “Skyvisi” materials in space, NASA is not just pushing the basic physics – it is improving the products we use. So far, the study of the colidal system – which includes substances such as blood, paint and fire retardants – has extended five new commercial patents, shelf life for domestic products, and has improved better manufacturing processes on space and ground.
Investigations by the International Space Station’s foam Optics and Mechanics (foam) revealed that it was impossible to get to the ground. In microgravity, wet foam maintains their structure instead of extracting liquid. This is a common problem in land -based studies. Using modern lighting technology and high precision imaging, scientists observe foam in their pure form.
This research is more than educational interest. Understanding how to be treated with foams and prisons in various gravity environments helps to arise:
- More efficient material of firefighting for both space and land
- Improved consumer products, including cosmetics, home cleansers, and more.
- Improved pharmaceutical delivery system
- Methods of more efficient petroleum processing
- Modern Water Treatment Technologies
Future fronts
This research is much more than urgent requests. It is very important to understand the behavior of soft substances:
- Developing new content of future space missions
- Forward to US leadership in manufacturing and innovation
- To advance the science and research of the planets
- Improve robotic system for space operations
Every discovery in the physics of a soft substance brings us closer to innovation, which benefits both the search for a place on the earth and the everyday life. The spacecraft’s More More from more effective drugs to modern materials, soft substance research exemplifies how space science develops for the entire humanity.
How does it benefit the space search:
Studying how soft substances in various gravity environments. Studying it intensifies the insights of scientists and informs other applications for the future of space research missions, such as manufacturing methods and new materials.
How does the Earth benefit from:
NASA’s work collecting soft substances Collides created ground -based solid benefits, including improving products used in everyday life.
About BPS:
NASA’s biological and physical studies division Pioneers enable research by using a space environment to discover scientific discovery and earth. In extreme situations, studying biological and physical tendencies allow researchers to advance the basic scientific knowledge needed to maximize and stay in space longer, while also benefiting life on Earth.
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